“Land,” Romeo confirmed her suspicion.
Cami turned away from the white line of beach when she heard Doc digging into the first aid kit. He located the bottle of pain medication and threw two pills to the back of his throat.
“Whoa.” She made a face. “Should you be doing that?”
“Doing what?” He frowned at her.
“Taking pain pills? Don’t they thin your blood or something? What if you have a brain bleed from hitting your head?”
“Did you get your medical degree alongside your law degree?”
“No. But I’ve watched plenty of—”
“Don’t tell me. Let me guess.Grey’s Anatomy?” She could only blink because he’d nailed it. “Lord save me from people who think those shows bear any resemblance to real life.” He showed her the bottle of Tylenol. “Acetaminophen is okay. It’s things that contain ibuprofen, like Advil, that can increase bleeding.”
“Oh.” She nodded, satisfied. “I guess you’re okay then.”
“My medical degree thanks you for your vote of confidence.” He smirked and then started rifling through the first aid kit again. After he found a roll of ACE bandage, he slammed shut the lid and turned his attention to Romeo. “What is it?” He hitched his stubbled chin toward the glimmering strip of land. “Whereis it? You got any idea?”
“Not a clue.” Romeo shook his head. “I thought I caught a glimpse of it before we went down. It’s not very big. My guess would be it’s not much more than a sandbar. Probably doesn’t even have a name, eh?”
“Still”—Doc unrolled the bandage—“I like the idea of staying put in one spot rather than drifting around at sea.”
“You and me both. Especially since I have no idea if anyone heard my mayday.”
Doc’s hands stilled. “What do you mean?”
“I think whatever took out the tail section shorted the electrical system and the radio too. Everything went haywire for a bit, and then we lost power altogether.”
“Shit.”
“My thoughts exactly.”
“But surely LT and the others on Wayfarer Island will alert the authorities once we don’t arrive,” Mia said. Her fare skin was already turning pink from the sun. Cami automatically dug into her purse for her travel-size bottle of SPF 30.
“Even olive-toned girls need protection from UV,”Cami’s mother had lectured her and Carlotta from a young age.“And I know everyone wants a tan but get a spray one. The real thing only leads to wrinkles and cancer.”
By the time she and her sister had turned fourteen, they’d been on a strict skincare regimen.
As she sifted through the mound of water bottles in her purse, her hand landed not on the SPF, but on her cell phone.
What are the odds?
She thumbed on the device and sighed heavily when it showed zero bars. “Damn,” she muttered. Then she shrugged. “Well, at least we can play Candy Crush until my battery runs out.”
The toothpick made a slow journey from one side of Doc’s mouth to the other. “Look at you, all Silver Linings Playbook.”
“Comes with the territory,” she joked. “Haven’t you heard? Lawyers are perpetual optimists.”
“The only thing I know about lawyers is how to tell them apart from jellyfish.” When she cocked her head, he lifted a finger. “One is a boneless, poisonous blob, and the other is a form of sea life.”
She rolled her eyes. “We’ve moved on to the lawyer jokes, have we? Tell me, is this animosity you have for the legal profession personal or just a general disdain for people who interpret and argue the law?”
Something flickered across his face right before his expression blanked.
Hmm. Curious, indeed.
Dalton “Doc” Simmons was an enigma wrapped in a mystery covered in beard stubble. And there was nothing Cami liked more than putting together a puzzle. Especially a big, tall, golden one.
